About Me

Gregg Walker is a Harlem Resident and 1997 graduate of Yale Law School who worked as an investment banker for 9 years and was the Vice President of Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions at Viacom for 3 years. Gregg served as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Sony from 2009 to 2016, and he launched his own private investing firm in July 2016 (www.gawalker.co). Gregg was chosen in 2010 by Crain's as one of NYC's 40 Under 40 Rising Stars (http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/40under40/profiles/2010/gregg-walker). Gregg is a Deacon at Abyssinian Baptist Church and served as the chairman of the Board of the Harlem YMCA. He has served on the Boards of movie studio MGM and music publishing companies Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing. He is also a Board member of Harlem RBI and Derek Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation. He is a former Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a representative of the US at the 2002 Young Leaders Conference of the American Council on Germany. Gregg is also a member of many other foundations and community organizations.

Monday, January 23, 2012

NYPD Promotion Practices Under Fire

Last week, we learned that NYPD Detectives are suing the NYPD over its promotion practice in the Intelligence Unit. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn continued to oppose Mayor Bloomberg's efforts to exclude single adults from our city's homeless shelter. Also, Manhattan's only confirmed Underground Railroad was celebrated last week.

The complaint filed by the Black detectives alleges that "the NYPD has chosen to cloak promotions in secrecy and give the all-white high level supervisors who run the Intelligence Division unfettered discretion to handpick white detectives for promotions over more qualified African American detectives." The complaint states that only 35 of the 600 employees in the Intelligence Unit are Black and that only 8 of the 161 sergeants are Black. Also, only out of 224 detectives in the unit, 21 are Black—just 6 percent. These horrible results are incompatible with our diverse city.

Unfortunately, as CNN reported, no Black member of the Intelligence Unit holds a rank above sergeant, while most serve as third grade detectives, just one rank above regular police officers.

The distinction means a salary difference of $30,000 per year between a third grade detective and a higher first grade detective. It is also a difference of $15,000 per year from a lifetime pension, and the lower ranking excludes third grade detectives from professional networking events and opportunities.
The complainants said they have been passed up numerous times for promotions despite excellent work records and recommendations from superiors.

Quinn and City Council Go To Court Against Bloomberg on Homeless Shelter Rules

In the latest chapter of the ongoing dispute between the NY City Council and Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council has filed suit against the Mayor to prevent the Mayor from implementing his proposed policy of demanding that single adults prove that they have no alternative housing options before they can be admitted to a homeless shelter.

The homeless dispute is a rare moment of discord between Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn. The Speaker will have to find a great deal more to distance herself from the Mayor as she seeks to become his successor.

A Chelsea brownstone was heralded Sunday as the only documented Manhattan stop on the underground railroad.
Elected officials, city preservationists and history buffs unveiled a marker on 339 W. 29th St.
“This is a happy day as we celebrate the spirit of survival of the freedom-seeking slaves of the 1840s and ’50s who found shelter in this building,” Julie Finch of the Friends of the Hopper Gibbons House Underground Railroad Site said.
The rowhouse is one of roughly a half-dozen Greek Revival buildings dotting the block between Eighth and Ninth Aves.
It was once home to the Quaker abolitionists James Sloan Gibbons and Abby Hopper Gibbons, who helped African-Americans as they escaped the clutches of slavery.
“They heroically provided shelter to African-Americans who were running for their lives . . . at a time when it was illegal to do so,” said Fern Luskin, a professor at LaGuardia Community College who discovered the building’s history.